Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ
Cycle A
Jesus says in John’s gospel that if we are to be his friends, we will keep his commandments. And he didn’t have very many of them. Love one another as I have loved you. Go and make disciples of all nations. Do this in memory of me. How many of your friends put that condition on your friendship? If you are my friend you’ll do as I command you. I imagine none of them do. But none of our other friends has the authority to command us. None of our other friends is our Lord and Savior. Jesus’ commands are reasonable because of what he offers us in return.
Today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Corpus Christi. And so it’s time to take a look at that final commandment of Jesus. Do this in memory of me. He didn’t say to just think of him from time to time. He said to do this. Perform the supper of the new covenant, just like he did with his friends. In other words, come to Mass. To Jesus it isn’t an option. He’s very clear about it in today’s gospel. "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” Not even a little bit, Jesus? What if I go out into the mountains on my bike on Sundays? Isn’t communing with your creation enough? No life? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? I mean, I’m spiritual, just not religious. Do I have to have a religion to have life?
And he also said that “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” You mean it’s real? Not just a symbol? And if I don’t eat and drink I won’t have eternal life? We can look at it as a negative, “If I don’t do it then I won’t have life.” Or we can see it as a wonderful gift, “I actually get to receive Jesus physically into my body and soul.” Going to Mass shouldn’t be an obligation; it should be something we long to do, joyfully.
It’s easy to take it for granted. Most of us have been coming to Mass our entire lives. We received our first communion in second grade. And so we can tend to lose sight of the life-changing capability of the Eucharist. I have actually seen people coming up to communion with tears streaming down their faces, because they had not been receiving the Eucharist for a long time for some reason or other, and now they’re back. I have seen the longing in the hearts of our catechumens as they prepare to be in full communion with us, wanting so badly to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. They see us mechanically shuffle up the aisle and want to shout out, “Don’t you realize what you are being given the privilege to do?” I wonder how we would view the Eucharist if we were deprived of it for awhile. Would we appreciate it more?
We have been given a great gift. Our God has chosen to give us his very self in the form of bread and wine. We have been given the chance to share so fully in our Lord that we actually become what we eat. We have the chance to literally become Christ to the world. I think some of us have lost sight of the wonderfulness of that gift. You know that almost 30% of American Catholics don’t believe that the Eucharist is actually the body and blood of Christ, but only a symbol? When did it change? Is it simply a lack of education or is it easier for us to believe the symbol over the reality? If it’s just a symbol then we are just remembering something that happened 2000 years ago. It’s nice, but there’s no challenge for our lives. We really don’t have to do anything. But if the Eucharist is truly Christ present to us and in us, then we are forced to see things differently. We are forced to conform our lives to that of Christ, and that’s sometimes scary and challenging.
What would you do if Jesus was standing right here this morning? How would you act? How would you dress? How would you approach him? Would you wear ratty clothes, and shuffle up to him while chewing gum? Would you pass him by without acknowledging his presence? Probably not. We wouldn’t even do that if some senator or congressman or other dignitary was here. But we do it all the time with Jesus. Because Jesus is right here, physically present to us. We approach him every Sunday, and oftentimes too casually.
Why do we have a certain way we approach the Lord in Holy Communion? Is it because some old white guys with too much free time on their hands have come up with all these silly rules for us to follow? Or is it because we really should show a certain level of seriousness and respect when receiving Him? We have a responsibility to protect and honor the Eucharist. We don’t and can’t take it lightly. And it is the responsibility of the Church to help us understand what it’s all about and how to prepare ourselves to receive Jesus.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and for some reason the subject of fasting for an hour before receiving communion came up. He was surprised that that rule was still in effect. “What are we, still in the Dark Ages?” he asked me. I guess he really didn’t understand why we would fast. The Eucharist never changes, so why should how we treat it change? Are we so sophisticated and evolved today that we don’t need to act any differently around Jesus? Are we that arrogant? Or have we just become indifferent?
Someone once told me that the Mass is not a sit down dinner, but a potluck. In a sit down dinner we come to be served and waited upon. We are there to experience the meal and enjoy it. It happens to us. In a potluck we are actively involved in preparing and serving it to others. We bring our best dish to it, the one we’re most proud of and that everyone enjoys. And if someone doesn’t bring a dish there may not be enough for all. The meal is incomplete. We are not served in a potluck; instead we serve. If you come here and just sit there and take it all in, or parts of it when you aren’t looking out the window or reading the bulletin, then you’ll never get the true meaning of Eucharist and communion. When you take part in preparing the meal, you understand what it’s all about and what goes into it and why we do it. If you just come in and expect to be served or entertained then you never get below the surface and you cannot be transformed by it. And the liturgy suffers because you are there to take and not to give.
And part of that preparation is preparing ourselves to take part in it. Just as we would dress properly if Jesus were coming to dinner, we would also be sure that our souls were properly disposed. Just as many people think that the one hour fast prior to Mass is a thing of the past, they think they can come to communion just any old way also, with all their sins unforgiven. We are all called to come before the Lord to receive him in holiness. And that means without having any serious sin on our souls. Yes, that means going to confession, but it also means that we strive to make our entire lives holy. To be constantly in a state of grace. It’s not just a ticket we punch in order to receive communion worthily. It’s understanding what we are really doing here and naturally wanting to be ok with God in order to become one with him.
For the past twenty years there has been a movement in the Evangelical Protestant churches to build mega churches, those that seat thousands and have everything from snack bars to free child care, with rock bands and computerized audio visual systems. Jesus as entertainment. And for many years these churches grew and thrived, especially among the younger, digital generation. But recently these churches have seen a steep decline in membership. Because it’s not about entertainment. It’s not about going to get what you need. It’s about Jesus. We come to worship God because that’s what we were created to do. Not to be entertained. There is a great herd of people who bounce from church to church, preacher to preacher, searching for their needs to be filled. But it’s not about their needs, it’s about the needs of others. It’s about Eucharist. We come here to be fed and refreshed, but only so we can then take that food out into the world to radically transform it. If you are looking for fulfillment outside of receiving the actual body and blood of Christ you will never find it. You will never have life within you unless you do. Because the Eucharist isn’t something we do, the Eucharist is who we are. No Eucharist, no church. No church, no Eucharist.
A big complaint about the liturgy in the past forty years is that there is a lack of solemnity and reverence. And I agree with that. We act much more respectfully in a library than we do in a church. That’s one reason some people have been pushing for a return to the Latin Mass, because there was a sense of the awesome, of the transcendant, that seems to be missing now. That’s one way to try to get it back. Another way, one I think is much more effective and life-changing, is if we all really understood what we are doing here, and take an active part in worshiping.
In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy from Vatican II, it states that the people are all called to full, active, and conscious participation in the liturgy, the Mass. We are not spectators here, but active participants. In fact, one of the four ways Jesus is present in the Mass is in the community. No community, no Mass. And it says participation, not observation. We are called to be active in the Mass. One way that action manifests itself is in the number and types of ministries in the Mass – Eucharistic ministers, lectors, ushers, altar servers, choir members. But that doesn’t let the rest of us off the hook. This isn’t a concert, it’s a sing along. The prayers we say don’t just wash over us, we all say them together, in one loud, holy noise. Actively praying in community means our lips should be moving; we’re not just following along in our heads. And we need to be consciously aware of what we are doing and why we are doing it.
Some of you may be annoyed by my little rant here this morning. It may make you uncomfortable. Every once in awhile we need to take stock of the important things in our lives, and today’s feast is a good time to do so with our Eucharistic lives. We can choose to go along as we have been, or we can try to be better disciples. Remember that immediately after Jesus said these words to his disciples, all but 12 left him. They couldn’t take it. It was too hard for them to understand and to carry out. And so they left him. We are faced with the same hard choice today. Jesus is pretty clear on this. And just as he didn’t go running after those who left and say, “You know, you’re right. I’m just being symbolic. I’m using a figure of speech. I’m just issuing you some guidelines. Come on back.” He won’t change his commandments just because they don’t fit into our lifestyles. It’s us he challenges to change.
He asked the twelve, “Will you also leave?” St. Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”
To whom shall we go?
